The Navy's premier fiscal year 2022 budget priorities are keeping the Columbia-class submarine program on track, pursuing its shipyard revitalization efforts and recapitalizing the service's sealift fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said Thursday. The Navy considers the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine its top acquisition priority and awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $9.47 billion contract modification in November 2020 to begin full construction on the first Columbia-class submarine. The new subs are meant to replace the Ohio class. "We have to deliver that program on time in 2028," Gilday said at the McAleese Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Programs Conference. "The Ohios are getting old, and we have to replace them." The Navy is working on a 20-year, $21 billion Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan to revitalize the nation's four public shipyards in an attempt to reduce maintenance delays. Lawmakers have called on the Navy to accelerate the plan and have proposed a $25 billion shipyard improvement bill.
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